Best Birthday Ever
by fitzherbertfangirl
Summary: Eugene and Rapunzel talk about birthdays and...parents! Set during that little scene during 'Kingdom Dance' where it shows Eugene giving Rapunzel...um...a cupcake? ;  full summary inside! implied Eugene x Rapunzel, but more about Family/Hurt/Comfort :


**Another Tangled fic! :D So, there's this little scene in the 'Kingdom Dance' part, where they show Eugene giving Rapunzel a little, um, I think it's a cupcake…? They're in this cute little hideaway thing…anyway I always loved that shot so I built a story around it. Kinda utilizing how much we don't know about Eugene's parents…let's say they weren't that great…somewhat fluffy…you were warned…enjoy! **

**B E S T B I R T H D A Y **_**E V E R**_

A Tangled fanfiction by ObsessiveShipper98

"Eugene, this is the best birthday _ever. _Thanks." Rapunzel smiled and nibbled the petite cupcake he had brought her. Eugene had wanted to get the king size one, but didn't have quite enough money after buying her lunch and the little kingdom flag…and he had made a promise to himself not to steal today. He didn't want Rapunzel to see Flynn Rider, the sneaky thief, just Eugene Fitzherbert, the orphan who changed his name on a naïve dream. At least the little pastry matched her small figure.

"Aw, no problem Rapunzel." Eugene smiled and leaned against the walls of the little arched indent in the street, slightly uneasy because he was hiding from the Corona guards, slightly giddy and pleased at the hideaway and being one of the causes for her 'best birthday ever'. It was a little outcrop in a side street of the kingdom, with an arched entrance. Quite small, actually, but they weren't complaining about being about a foot apart. Somewhat cozy, a nice hiding place for a few moments at least.

"_Aw,_ Eugene…you're too modest…"

_Modest, hmm. Not a word that usually describes Flynn Rider, _Eugene thought, trying to recall if anyone had ever told him that. _But then again, she's not talking to Flynn Rider. She's talking to Eugene Fitzherbert. _

"Blondie, really, it was…nothing much…" he said, quite _modestly._

"Eugene-yes it was! I've spent my whole life reading three books, and then you took me to that library…I never knew there were so…many!" she paused for a moment, savoring it all. "I can see why you changed your name. Flynnigan Rider _is_ pretty amazing." Eugene smiled, recalling her rapt admiration with _The Tales of Flynnigan Rider_, very much akin to his. "And the food is really good here…Mother never was much of a cook. And now I have a new way to express myself-chalk drawing! It's just as amazing as painting!" All of a sudden her green eyes lit up and her pupils grew, excitement bubbling within her with each moment. "And DANCING! I love dancing, Eugene, always have except there's no room in the tower so-"

"_Psst, Blondie."_

"I would always end up tripping over my hair-you were so genius to think to braid it-"

"_Blondie!"_

"And whatever you say, you are an amazing dancer."

"_RAPUNZEL!"_

"What? Is it ruffians? Is it thugs? Have they come for me? Is it guards? Have they come for you?" she peered nervously out of their hideaway, looking for any suspicious life forms.

Eugene looked at her nervously. "Rapunzel, I'm sorry but you are going to have to _turn the volume down or else we'll get caught and I'm going to be hanged all before you can say 'tangled'!_

Rapunzel instantly hushed, and after a moment of recovery silence, she whispered, _"Sorry Eugene, it's just the best birthday ever."_, smiling at him shyly.

"It's alright Blondie, glad you are enjoying yourself!" Eugene said lightly. _Just wait until you see the light show, Rapunzel. THAT will make it ten times better. _he thought silently to himself.

"What are your birthdays like usually?" he asked, though a little scared to ask the question, knowing her past in that awful tower.

Rapunzel frowned, recalling all the others. "Nothing in comparison to this. The lanterns would always be the highlight of it all, even though I couldn't see them too well. Pascal would always try to make me a birthday present, but he would just make a total mess. Mother never got me birthday presents…she always said, 'Ah, I distinctly remember-your birthday was last year-"

Eugene had to interrupt here. "No birthday presents? Geez, Blondie, that's gotta be rough. But a frog that makes an effort to make your day better? That's dedication."

"Chameleon, Eugene, _chameleon_. And yes, it was sweet of him. I'll be sure to tell him you said so." Rapunzel said with a wink.

"That won't be necessary, Blondie." Eugene replied, winking back. "But, heck, no presents from your mother? Ouch."

"Well-it was, sort of, but I didn't really know I was supposed to get presents until I got this book when I was fifteen that had some sort of mention of presents. Then she started getting me…um…"

"Lame presents? That's alright Rapunzel, kind of an 'older women' thing." Eugene commented, thinking of all the strange presents his various companions over the years had received from women, usually their mothers and such.

"Oh, okay…I still kind of feel like I missed out on the birthday aspect of life…but then again, I missed out on plenty, didn't I?" Rapunzel said, her tone tinged with a bit of regret-or was it remorse?

Rapunzel noticed Eugene's comical eyes softening, just like they had in that flooding cave when he had revealed his name, and as they had last night, when he revealed the story behind Eugene Fitzherbert. "It's okay, Rapunzel, I never got anything for my birthday either-fifteen and up. It sounds like my parents and guardians were-or should I say are-a lot like your mother. So that makes two of us." Eugene smiled softly.

Rapunzel felt sorry for him. He might have the outside world, unlike her, but at least she had a loving parent. "Yeah, it does doesn't it…I'm just glad I have someone who knows what it's like to be blown off…a lot." Rapunzel's eyes widened. "Did I really just talk bad about my mother, Eugene? Oh I am a despicable human being!" Rapunzel stressed the last part with a deep, mournful voice, exactly like in the meadow the day before. She started to turn and face the walls of their hideout to bang her head against them, but two strong, yet gentle hands held her back tenderly.

Eugene looked at her in her sudden state of distress, and recalled _his_ mother. She shouldn't have to feel like this, especially if her mother was anything like his. He grabbed her shoulders gently. "No, Rapunzel, you are not despicable. Sometimes parents-plenty of parents-_do_ blow their kids off. Lots have done it, and worse things too…" His brown eyes saddened at bit. "Trust me, I can tell you _personally_," he paused her and put stress on 'personally' looking into her green eyes and trying not to remember his past. "-not all parents are good, and I'm sure none are perfect, though I'm not one myself." He let go of her and looked down, the twinkle in his eyes gone.

Rapunzel instantly felt terrible, not because of her mother anymore, but because of what Eugene had gone through. She had revealed a dark spot in his past, perhaps one rather left buried, and she must make it up to him. She reached out and took his hand, and she could tell just by her gentle hold his hands had been through a lot, though they still felt soft and warm to her touch. "Hey…" she said softly, and he looked up, meeting her eyes with concealed sadness. "I'm sorry, Eugene. You are _so_ right! Now that I think about it, there are plenty of things Mother did that were not…well…nice, though I didn't know because I didn't know anything different." She smiled and squeezed his hand lightly. He squeezed back, and they released their tender grip.

"But now…" she continued quietly, "You have shown me the world. Real people, nice, friendly, beautiful, caring people."

"Are you calling, ahem, the thugs beautiful?" Eugene felt bad for interrupting, but couldn't help himself.

"Please, just let me finish Eugene. No, they're not exactly, um, beautiful. I used to think Mother possessed all these attributes…I'm coming to realize just how blind I've been. Also how she's really not quite who I thought she was. _That,_ Eugene, is, what, above all, makes this the best birthday ever."

A small smile of understanding passed between the notorious thief and the lost princess. It said what words could not, _This is our secret, just the two of us._ Rapunzel fought a strong urge to hug him, she had always been a hugger. But that strong urge just wasn't enough to keep the caring princess from putting her arms around his waist and embracing him gently, eyelids shut ashamedly. "I'm sorry." she said quietly. Eugene looked down at her for a small surprised moment, and then realized how sweet it was for her to care, the first one to ever listen. He hugged her back gently, placing his cheek against her magic hair and closing his eyes. They stayed like this for a few moments, neither wanting to break it off first. Then they heard a loud voice call, "To the boats!" Two pairs of eyes opened. One big, curious, a light shade of green and full of wonder and excitement for her newly discovered world. Naïve, yet smart, young, yet mature. The other, smaller and closer set, ready for anything the world had to throw at them. Amber in color, cunning, witty…and yet there was something else about them now. A certain softness…no longer the foxy, slick, Smolder, but gentle care was blooming about his brown irises. It could be said, perhaps, that while Flynn Rider owns his Smolder, Eugene Fitzherbert is better known for his Tender Glance.

Eugene held onto her and together they leaned to the left a little and peered out of their hideaway, seeing that dusk was nearly upon them. Remembering the lanterns, a lovely scheme began to form in Eugene's mind, using the Flynn Rider side to his advantage, as Flynn was very good at scheming.

"So, Rapunzel, could you see these lanterns from afar in your tower?" he said with a sly smile, gently loosing himself from their innocent gesture of affection.

"Yes, but just barely…Mother told me they were stars." There was a bit of contempt in Rapunzel's voice, and Eugene couldn't help but think, _Yes! Rebellion! _

"And you have not yet seen these marshmallow-y lanterns, but you say this is the best birthday ever?"

She looked at him quizzically. "Marshmallow-y?" He nodded, still smiling, and she added, "Without a doubt."

Eugene let his slick smile fade to a genuine one. He gently took both of her hands in his, leading her towards the docks. "The best is yet to come, my darling Rapunzel, the best is yet to come."

**Heehee…I love this XD not as much as 'Mother Does Not Know Best' but still. XD and, yeah, the 'loving parent' thing? Yeah, I know MG is not very, um, loving, but that's what Rapunzel thinks anyway… ;) And, yes, Eugene let 'my darling Rapunzel' slip…I don't think he would actually say that until the part when he came back to life. ;) **

**Yeah, yeah, I KNOW *mother KNOWS* XD that this isn't my best work, but it was really fun to write, just like anything Tangled…it's extremely enjoyable. ;) thx for reading! Reviews are so shiny! They totally make my day, even if they have a lot of constructive criticism! Pretty please, whoever you are, a review? Make the world a little brighter! ;D!**


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